The difference between preaching to the choir and reaching the lost masses outside the four walls of the church. I spent the first 3 years of my ministry preaching in over 500 churches all over the country. It was a wonderful time in my life, but deep inside I knew something was missing. I’ll never forget laying in a hotel bed in Peoria, Illinois after a great service that evening in a large Assemblies of God Church. Many people came forward at the invitation that evening and accepted Christ into their heart and life by faith, but the Holy Spirit opened my spiritual eyes and told me that the masses who needed to hear about the hope we have in Jesus the most weren’t sitting in the pews of that church. They were the ones living outside those four walls!

Let me share a question with you I get all the time during the many media interviews I do. It is a GREAT QUESTION that comes from reporters who aren’t Believers. They ask me why are there more churches, more ministries, more Christian resources, more Christian media, than ever before in the history of Christendom, yet at the same time our culture and the world around us is in a spiritual freefall, the better percentage of two full generations don’t even go to church, and Christianity has very little impact in the daily lives of the vast majority of people. It seems to be quite a paradox doesn’t it? With all the churches and Christian influence that exists today, this should be a far better world.

I respond to their question by telling them the answer is quite simple. The above phenomena exists because we preach to the choir instead of reaching out to those who need the message the most. We have retreated into this incestuous place I call the “Christian trough” where the churches and most all Christian ministries live and operate. It is this Christian subculture that has evolved over the past 40 years that consists of the church, Christian TV and radio, Christian publishing, Christian music, and all of the various para-chruch ministries. It targets Believers with their message, not those outside the four walls of the church, since people who are already Christians will be friendly to the message, buy what they sell, go to events, and donate their money.

Make no mistake about it, it is business, and BIG business. Billions of dollars a year! Everyone talks about “reaching the lost,” but the reality is they all end up simply preaching to the choir because that is where the money is at! Let me give you a great example. A little over a year ago, I was in the office of a gentleman who God has richly blessed financially. Money is relevant and this is a man ho could write a check for $100,000 without blinking an eye. After sharing with him what God was doing at Liveprayer and asking for him to help us financially, he told me that he couldn’t help me right now because he had just agreed to head up the finance team to bring a well-known evangelist to Tampa. He shared that he was responsible for raising $2.3 million dollars for this 2-day event and that the evangelist would only agree to come after the money was in the bank. (Who needs faith to follow this plan?)

Knowing others who were involved in the organization of this event, they spent over a year getting hundreds of the area churches to get their people to come to the event. So ultimately it was a couple of services with apx 100,000 people from area churches. Listen, I prayed that many hearts and lives were touched and impacted during those two days. I have no doubt there were souls saved, and praise God for that. But the point I want to make is that this is how it works in the world of Christian business. Big names who won’t even come until they are guaranteed to make so much money. Big events that are called “evangelistic,” but are full of people who have been recruited to come from the area churches.

Do you want the perfect contrast? For 3 years, Liveprayer was a major sponsor at the Florida State Fair! For less than $70,000, we were able to be a title sponsor and had a major presence with the 5,000 square foot “Liveprayer Gospel Tent” in the heart of the State Fair that had over 600,000 people in attendance. Weree those people coming to see Liveprayer? No. Most didn’t have a clue Liveprayer even exists. However, we were there, boldly and visibly letting people know that if they were hurting, going through problems in their life, there was a place to come and find help and hope. We shared great Gosple music, powerful messages from the Bible, and led many to faith in Christ. Most every person who came to the State Fair got one of our brightly colored flyers with the Plan of Salvation on it!

THAT IS WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN PREACHING TO THE CHOIR AND REACHING OUT TO THE LOST MASSES OUTSIDE THE FOUR WALLS OF THE CHURCH!

I love you and care about you so much. In 2011, this is so critical. If we are going to truly impact lives, make a real difference in our culture so God is honored and Biblical Truth becomes the standard once again in this nation, then the followers of Jesus Christ have got to leave the “Christian trough” and quit simply preaching to the choir and start making a serious attempt to reach the lost and hurting masses outside the four walls of the church! We’ve got to quit worrying about how much money we can make, and start focusing instead on how many souls we can lead to faith in Christ! We have got to quit wasting our time and effort reaching people who are already saved, and start reaching out to those who are clearly lost!

A true evangelist is better off preaching to 20 outside the doors of a nightclub than a stadium full of people from the local churches. Of course, the 20 people outside the nightclub aren’t going to buy your products or give you any money, they probably won’t applaud your message, as a matter of fact they may even physically attack you because of your message. But at some point what do we do this for? For fame? For fortune? Or do we do this because God has called us to reach the lost with the Gospel?

If you have been called to serve the Lord, now is the time to start serving Him. There is a lost and dying world outside the four walls of the church that desperately needs God’s Truth and the hope we have in Jesus Christ. God needs men and women to rise up in these last days who will take His message of hope to these lost and hurting souls. Paul could have had a nice life simply preaching to those Believers in the churches of his day. But he understood that it was the lost who needed to hear the Gospel, since without Jesus they were going to die and spend eternity in hell. He literally put his life on the line each day to bring the Good News to the lost and hurting even though most didn’t want to hear it!

The cold hard reality is that a person who dies without Jesus is going to spend eternity in hell. People are dying and going to hell every second. We, who possess the words of everlasting life have a responsibility to bring that message of salvation through faith in Christ to these dying souls. Why do we spend all of our time, energy, and resources telling the saved how to be saved, when it is the lost who need to hear those words of everlasting life?

I pray that God will stir your heart today and that you will be motivated to remember that Jesus commanded us to bring the Gospel to those who are living without the hope of Christ in their life. God has raised up pastors to shepherd their flocks. True evangelists aren’t called to preach to the choir, but to bring the Gospel to the lost and hurting OUTSIDE the four walls of the church!

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND TAKE A REAL STAND FOR CHRIST EACH DAY!

1. Distribute Liveprayer Daily Devotional – I need people to take each day’s Daily Devotional and forward it to everyone that you know. This is a great way to help spread God’s Word on the Internet. Also, post it to various blogs and message boards that you frequent.

2. Jonah Project – Tell everyone that you know to check out the Jonah Project. This is the vehicle God has given us to bring together true followers of Jesus Christ in these last days in one group that can make an incredible impact on the spiritual course of this nation and in millions of people’s lives. There is a vision video on the Jonah Project homepage that clearly lays out how God can use this group in these last days. You can access the Jonah Project website by going to Liveprayer.com and clicking on the Jonah Project link.

3. Fundraising – Unlike other ministries, Liveprayer has ZERO paid fundraisers or development people. Again, I just never went the route all major ministries go of having a staff of people who do nothing but contact donors and go out to raise funds. All we do each day, all that we provide is made available for FREE to take God’s Word into the marketplace and impact lives for Christ. Obviously it takes money to operate. I’ve simply shared our needs and walked by faith that God would provide each month. Raising money is a special gift. I am praying that those who have that special gift and want to serve God will help me in this area.

The fact is, there are lots of people who God has blessed and are giving to many different causes. Liveprayer is a highly visible ministry, a track record of over 20 years, and the fruit of literality millions of changed lives as a testimony that this is fertile soil for people to give into. Obama had literally thousands of regular people collecting money for his campaign. Normal people with no special skills or gifts in raising money. They simple believed in his work and got people to give towards it.

I KNOW THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE LIVEPRAYER FAMILY WHO BELIEVE IN GOD’S WORK HERE WHO COULD SUCCESSFULLY GET PEOPLE YOU KNOW TO GIVE TO HELP US DO ALL THAT WE DO EACH DAY FOR SO MANY AROUND THE WORLD.

Are you ready to take your stand for Christ??? Liveprayer is a life-changing vehicle God has been using for nearly 12 years now to impact literally tens of millions of lives all over the world. We have tapped into the great technology of our day to reach the world and individual lives with the Truth of God’s Word and the hope and love of Jesus Christ. I can’t do this alone. Now more than ever it is critical for each person who knows the Lord to step up and allow Him to use your life. I have given you 3 action steps. You can choose one, two, or all three depending on how the Lord is leading you.

I refuse to accept this culture of sin we live in. I am asking you to take your stand for Christ and help me change this nation into a culture of BLESSINGS, abundant now and everlasting through faith in Jesus Christ!!!